I am really, really enjoying my book by Samantha Power, titled "A Problem From Hell" : America and the Age of Genocide. Power is a very, very intelligent women who was a war correspondent in Bosnia during the genocide that took place in 1995. She discusses the origin of "genocide", and follows its history throughout Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, and more.
Over spring break, I was visiting some schools in D.C. so I decided it would be a good idea to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. I remembered how powerful our trip was in 8th grade, and felt more and more excited to research when I went to the museum on Tuesday. I had just read about Raphael Lemkin - a Polish Jewish laywer
and a newfound hero of mine who devoted his life to stopping genocide after witnessing the Armenian genocide take place and seeking refuge in the United States during Hitler's regime. He had worked very hard to come up with a name for a crime that would not be mistaken for anything else, and mentioned the word "genocide" for the first time in a novel of his. Then, I saw his picture on a display commemorating his lifelong devotion to humanity. In Boston, upon visiting BU, I learned that Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and author of Night is a professor there. Power discussed how it was difficult for Wiesel to find a publisher for his book because Americans were not ready to openly address the Holocaust, especially in pop culture or literature, for years. After flying into Dulles International Airport, I learned that John Foster Dulles was the Secretary of State during the Eisenhower administration and was against any human rights "covenant...for consideration by the Senate" according to Power (70).
All of the pieces just fit! I feel like this will come together just fine, as long as I can find a narrow enough thesis.
